Adjust to the Circumstances (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: Steve and Cody discuss his feelings about the situation with Jenna's job.


**Notes:** Thanks to Mari and Sammy as always for their input and feedback! You're the best, ladies!

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thanks for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.

Steve and Cody stories are some of my favorites to write. I hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

_Adjust to the Circumstances (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

Steve stood from the beachside bench when he spotted Cody approaching. Once the young man was close enough, Steve nodded a greeting. "Hey, how you doing?"

Cody nodded back, not quite meeting his eyes as he answered. "I'm good."

"Yeah?"

Cody raised his head at the question in Steve's voice. "Well, I mean … you know …"

Steve nodded slowly, studying him. He motioned to the bench, indicating Cody should sit. "Yeah, I talked to your mom yesterday to let her know I'd put a call in to a couple of my contacts who might have leads on jobs for her," he said, settling beside him on the bench. "She was a little worried. Said you were working a lot more shifts at Foodland."

"It's no big deal," Cody said, shrugging. "Some of my co-workers needed to switch shifts last weekend, but I told 'em I'd just take theirs if they needed the time off."

"And this week, too?"

"Yeah, well, it's good money, you know?"

"Sure," Steve said, nodding. "But it's also summer. I know you wanted to spend more time with Jess before school starts again. And with your family. Angie's birthday's this weekend …"

"I'll be there," Cody assured him. "I promise. I wouldn't miss it."

Steve smiled. "Good. She'd miss _you_."

Cody nodded, a small smile on his face for a moment at the thought of Angie. His expression sobered, and he looked at Steve. "I just … I feel like I've gotta do whatever I can right now, in case … you know."

"Cody," Steve said, looking at him steadily. "Your mom is smart, and capable, and experienced–"

"She is, I know," Cody said, nodding.

"Any medical office would be lucky to hire her."

"I know, but–"

"She's going to find another job, Cody. She's sending out resumes left and right, and Catherine, Danny, Chin, Kono and I have been reaching out to people we know. Gabby and Leilani and Adam, too." He nodded toward the busy food trucks down the beach. "Kamekona's on it, and he knows everybody on this island. Joseph and Elizabeth have put out feelers. Even Grandma Ang was asking at her bingo game Friday."

Cody gave him an appreciative smile in response, but it was strained. "Good. Good, that's … good."

Steve tilted his head to catch Cody's eyes. "It's not all on you and your mom, Cody. You've got people to lean on. You all do."

Cody nodded. "I know. Chin took Dylan to this motorcycle show yesterday. Dylan couldn't stop talking about it. Definitely took his mind off everything. And Gabby and Grace went with Kaitlyn to the cat shelter for the afternoon. Danny's allergic."

Steve smiled. "Right."

"I think everybody's … you know … doing okay. Mom's trying to keep things pretty normal, but it's hard not to think about it."

"Of course," Steve said with a nod. "Totally understandable. But a lot can happen in a month, Cody. You wanna know what I think? I think your mom's gonna have a new position lined up before the practice closes."

Cody sighed, looking down.

"But even if by some chance she doesn't," Steve continued, "you guys are going to be okay. You're not facing the world alone now. We've all got your backs."

Cody nodded, looking at him. "I know, but … if I got another job–"

"If you got another job, you'd have even less time to spend with your family, who really needs you right now," Steve said. "Less time to spend with your girlfriend, and then there's classes starting in the fall."

"Unless I–"

"I'm with your mom on this one, Cody. I don't think you should drop out of school. You've worked really hard to get into UH, plus there's your plans to work with HCC on your student senate initiatives. All those plans, you want to drop that now?"

"No, but … but my family's more important."

"They are," Steve agreed. "And it's fine to have contingency plans, like a third job, but we're not there yet. And I really don't think it's going to come to that."

Cody sighed, but nodded his agreement.

They heard a ding from an incoming text on Cody's phone. Steve nodded at it. "Go ahead, if you need to check it."

Cody shook his head. "It's probably Jadon again."

Steve's brow furrowed. "Since when do you not check messages from your best friend?"

"I–" Cody stopped, sighing. "Remember how I told you he and I were thinking about maybe getting an apartment together?"

Steve nodded. "Thinking about it, yeah. You decide to go for it?"

"That's just it. With Mom's job and everything, I can't move out now. They need me. And if Mom doesn't find another job before the practice closes … I mean, I make pretty good money at Foodland, and if I get another job, we'll need all that money for the bills."

"Cody–"

"I just can't right now," he said, running a hand through his hair in his agitation. "And it wasn't gonna be a problem because it's not like we found a place or anything. It was just an idea so I hadn't even told my family I was thinking about it yet, which is good, 'cause now with all this happening–"

"Cody–"

"But J's uncle knows a guy who's a landlord and has an apartment, and J's been texting me about it, but I …" He sighed, voice trailing off.

"You didn't tell him about your mom's job?" Steve guessed.

Cody exhaled with a wince. "He's gonna be so disappointed when I tell him I can't do it."  
Steve paused, studying him. He nodded slowly. "You know, Cody … your family's always going to need you. Whether you live together or not. You guys have been through a lot together and you've formed the kind of bonds that are never gonna go away."

Cody sighed again. "It's just … everything had been going so well," he said. His chin dropped to his chest and he shook his head. "I should have known it was too good to last."

Steve paused again, taking in the vulnerable expression he hadn't seen on his young mentee's face in years. Taking a breath, he started to speak.

"Cody, there are always going to be things that come up that you don't expect. Life's unpredictable, there's no way around that. It's like a mission. You can plan and you can train and you can think you've accounted for every possibility, and then …" He waved a hand. "Something goes wrong. Something happens you didn't see coming." He held Cody's gaze steadily. "But that doesn't mean you give up. You don't. You meet the new challenge head on. You rely on your teammates, the people around you. And you come up with a new plan. You adjust to the new circumstances, and you keep moving forward."

Cody nodded, a slow smile appearing on his face. "Right."

"Right. This thing with your mom's job … it's big, and it's unsettling. A little scary even. But you're gonna get through this. For all the reasons we already talked about."

"Yeah," Cody said quietly.

"Okay?"

"Okay," Cody echoed, his voice more firm.

"So don't shut the door on that apartment plan with Jadon."

"But I–"

"You want to wait till things with your family are settled, I get that, and it's smart. I think you _should_ wait. But like I told you before, I also think it's a good idea, and I think you should go for it." He smiled, nodding to Cody's pocket that held his phone. "And tell Jadon what's going on. He deserves to know. And he'll understand."

Cody's eyes dropped. "Yeah, I guess."

"He will," Steve said with certainty. "Do you remember what one of the first things you told me about Jadon was?"

Cody glanced up at him.

"You told me that after the fire, he brought you a bag of his own clothes to borrow, for as long as you needed 'em."

Cody looked down, a small smile on his face at the memory. "Yeah, he did."

"And that was Jadon at fifteen. For all his …" He waved a hand, trying to think of a word to accurately describe the indescribable young man. "Jadon-ness, deep down where it counts he's your brother. He'll understand."

Cody smiled genuinely for the first time that afternoon. "You're right. He will. I'll call him later and explain what's going on. Tell him we might just have to wait a little longer for that apartment."

Steve smiled, clapping his shoulder with a nod. "There you go. Adjust to the circumstances and keep moving forward. That's how we get through things."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed!**

_Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll_

_Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net_

_Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com _

_You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line._

_And find Mari on Twitter at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller _


End file.
